India: CAA will be implemented before upcoming Lok Sabha elections, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Saturday that the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be put into effect prior to this year's Lok Sabha elections after the relevant regulations are issued.

Lambasting the opposition,Amit Shah said at an event in New Delhi, "They're misleading and inciting our Muslim brothers (to oppose the CAA).Only people who fled persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh and arrived in India are intended to be granted citizenship under the CAA. The purpose of it is not to take away someone's Indian citizenship."

The Union Minister predicted that the NDA will win over 400 seats and the BJP would win 370 seats in the next elections, allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to head the government for a record three terms. Shah asserted that there is no suspense over the outcome of the Lok Sabha polls and even the Congress and other opposition parties have realised that they will again have to sit on the opposition benches.

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"We revoked Article 370 (of the Constitution, which granted the former state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status). Therefore, it is our belief that the nation's voters will grant the BJP 370 seats and the NDA nearly 400 seats," Shah added.

The home minister indicated that more parties might join the ruling coalition when asked if the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)led by Jayant Choudhary, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and a few other regional parties could join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).The BJP "believes in family planning but not in politics", indicating that more parties may join the coalition.When pressed further on SAD, he said, "Talks are going on but nothing has been finalised."

Shah stated that the election of 2024 will be between development and those who offer just platitudes, rather than between the NDA and the opposition coalition in India.

When asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, he responded that the Nehru-Gandhi scion had no right to carry out the march because his party was in charge of the nation's 1947 partition.

Shah explained that the timeliness of the government's white paper before Parliament was essential, stating that the nation had a right to know about the devastation the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), led by the Congress, left behind when it was voted out of power by the people in 2014.

"The economy was in rough shape in 2014. Scams were everywhere. There were no foreign investments coming in. The world would have received the wrong impression if we had brought out a white paper at that moment."

"However, ten years later, our administration has brought in foreign investment, revitalised the economy, and eradicated all corruption. Thus, it is the appropriate moment to release the white paper," he stated.

(With inputs from agencies)